It was part of an era of opulence of a different sort. Staterooms aboard cargo freighters on the Great Lakes. Initially it started out as cabins for the owners of some of the freighters, cabins well appointed to suite their positions as owners. The Captains cabin on board would be well appointed also, however the owners cabin would be the pinnacle of good taste. Usually nestled up forward beside the Captains cabin and that of the officers and just under the wheelhouse with a good view of the lake. The best that the company could afford went into the cabin, the craftsmanship was second to none, the furnishings the latest from the best stores around the lakes. Meals could be served in cabin, or else with the Captain & officers. It may have been a lowly freighter tramping about the lakes delivering cargo, but it was a state of opulence none the less. The years went by and owners cabins fell out of favor to be replaced by passengers accommodation. True they still incorporated the style of the " owners cabin " into the vessel but now for paying passengers. It was popular for many years and one could sail at leisure around the lakes from port to port discovering some form of adventure perhaps from a everyday mundane life. And so it went until again times changed and this also fell out of favor, and by the early to mid 60's due to economic terms, safety issues and other reasons the paying passenger ended. On many of the older vessels that worked the lakes the once opulent cabins were used by the crew, or as storage rooms for who knows what. I did have the distinct privilege in the early 1980's to sail on the " Meldrum Bay " pretty much her last voyage as she was destined for scrap and was quartered in the once opulent "owners cabin." The craftsmanship that went into building these fine cabins was second to none as all the cabins were when built into the ship, the careful fitting of each board, door and molding, then varnished in a nice rich stain to bring the best features from the wood, to show off it's own opulence & finery. When the vessel was sold for scrap & payed off, they would be towed to a scrap yard and tied off, the steel & metal content, ferrous & nonferrous metals all taken into consideration for the total scrap value given, the wood in the cabins not considered. Paint was thrown about the rooms, on the walls and anywhere wood was and under a controlled burn the was allowed to burn out showing no particular value to the breakers, so as to have easier access to the steel behind the walls. Thus in some sad way a intriguing part of the history of the Great Lakes was lost forever only to be a memory that even now as you read this is fading forever...........thanks for the peek